Empathy
by FrankandJoe3
Summary: Before, all she could do was sympathize. But now, she knew exactly how he felt.


**I read it on the bio. Babs' parents die when she's thirteen and Wally said Dick is thirteen… it was never mentioned if her parents have died yet, but if they have then consider this just an event of the past that I'm retelling like always. In this, Dick and Barbara are more like "super best friends", kind of like Stan and Kyle on South Park. I didn't mean to make this imply romantic stuff, but if you saw it, I can't help it. I like writing romance. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. **

To most people, school is considered a prison of the worst kind. The second their eyes open in the morning and their eyes register the time on their alarm clocks, a groan usually sounds followed by a long string of cusswords as people drag themselves from their bed. They sluggishly get ready, trudging and functioning and fast as they can in their foul moods, their eyes half closed and dried drool sticking to their faces still.

Of course, the second they walk in school and catch up with their friends, they complain about having to get up so earlier even though they're relieved to see familiar faces. As the day drags on, people nod off and fall asleep in class, homework is done with 'partners' who help them cheat to pass the classes, people are made fun of, teachers are dissed, plans are made for after school and the day drags on until school comes to an end and the people waste time until it starts all over again.

To Dick though, school was a vacation. It was his time away from being a hero, time away from trying to be just as important as his team members, time away from worrying about dying, time away from pretending that Bruce was his dad and that nothing was different about him. It was his time to be normal, his time to fit in, time to be a real kid, time to hang with friends that only saw him as a teenager instead of a hero and his time to be human.

When he woke up, no matter how many bruises and cuts marred his skin and no matter how much it hurt to keep his eyes open, he'd always smile happily. He'd get up from bed, usually with a spring in his step with the exception of when he had severe enough wounds that prevented the physical spring. He'd get ready with a fast and steady pace before bolting downstairs, eagerly waiting for either Bruce or Alfred to take him to school.

When he stepped out of the car, he'd be greeted by dozens of friendly faces who would brightly wave and smile at him, sometimes even stopping for conversation. On the few mornings he ran into Artemis, he'd sneak up behind her and tug her ponytail sharply before dashing away with his trademark giggle. The main reason he always smiled was because school was the only place he could see his closest friend: Barbara Gordon.

His _best _friend would always be Wally, but _that _ginger was specifically there for Robin, not Dick. Barbara was the one that was always there for Dick. She knew all of _Dick's _secrets, meaning she knew nothing of Robin's, but she would've handled his more intense secrets carefully and calmly like she had everything else. Barbara knew everything about this side of him. She knew about the circus, his big brother, his parents' untimely death, the mob and Bruce.

All she could ever do was sympathize. Her parents were both alive and living with her, she had no siblings and her parents had never accidentally ran into the wrong side of the law. Dick was fine with that though. He never asked for a pity party and she didn't make any move towards getting the balloons. She just offered a shoulder when he wasn't in his normal spirits and he'd occasionally use it to wipe a few tears away.

Today, both Barbara and Dick were in the highest of spirits, working away at the picnic tables outside on their Algebra 1 homework. Both were high-placing Mathletes so Algebra 1 was one of their easier classes. They just worked together because it made the simple task just a little more fun.

The sun shone brightly onto them, the air a comfortable temperature for once and the plants and trees the most vivid of colors. It was like a scene from a fairy tale, only there weren't any pixies or princesses dancing around, singing about cleaning and friendship and being in love. Students walked around them, enjoying lunchtime or free time as it was often called seeing that most kids used it to socialize and hang out with their friends instead of actually eating.

"If he's so mean to you, why are you still his friend?" Barbara glanced up, her blue eyes gleaming resiliently.

Dick shrugged, smiling widely. He gave her a glance of his own before glancing back down to his paper, mentally counting on his fingers before jotting some work down on the paper for credit.

"Because he watches out for me I guess. I mean, he's like Matt and I loved Matt with all of my heart. Did you get 24.5 inches squared for number 18?" he blindly drummed his fingers across the green table top, narrowing his eyes at the problem.

Barbara tucked a strand of red hair shyly behind her ear, looking from his paper to her own. She spotted his mistake in an instant.

"It's 24.06 inches squared. You weren't supposed to add scaled Jane. She isn't part of the dollhouse's area," she pointed to where he messed up, smirking at his slip up, "How _you _managed to be lead Mathlete in this school is _beyond _me!"

Dick rolled his eyes, playfully punching her shoulder before frantically erasing his mistake and penciling in the right answer.

"Shut up Babs. You know I was up all night. It's amazing that I can spell my name."

Just to be safe, he glanced up and made sure his birth given name was correctly scrawled across the appropriate line. Besides the fact that his I was lacking the tittle, it was right. He sighed in relief, his cheeks flushing.

"Yeah, go ahead and play the tired card Grayson. You just can't admit that you're not Mr. Perfect," she teased, rushing to solve number 19 before Dick could.

Barbara had just began to try to find the missing coordinate, plugging the x1 and y1 into the problem, when she felt a foreign hand touch gently to her shoulder. When she spun around to see who was bursting her bubble, her hair grazed Dick's monkey ears, making him turn too. Principal Victoria was standing behind them, a grim look on her face. Two sets of worried blue eyes exchanged glances before turning around on the bench attached to their table so they could better see.

"H… hey… Principal Victoria…" Dick spoke for the both of them, his voice cautious.

The older woman pulled her hands back, looking down at the two sadly. Something bad had happened, that much was clear.

"Ms. Gordon, I have some… awful news," she began slowly, clasping her hands in front of her, tangling her fingers.

Barbara's eyes widened and she unconsciously reached for Dick's hand, scared sick. To them, it was just a sibling-like motion and nothing about it was weird. They were just friends after all. The redhead swallowed hard, fear burning clear in her eyes.

"W-What?" her heart raced a tad bit too fast for her liking.

Dick squeezed her hand comfortingly, noting the fear. He too was worried, but there was nothing he could do about it. Whatever it was, they had to hear it to make the worry go away. Principal Victoria took a deep shaky breath, unconsciously spinning her wedding ring around her ring finger.

"I'm… I'm not quite sure how to tell you this…" the gray haired woman began nervously, unable to meet the teen's eyes. "We just… got a call from the hospital…"

Barbara clutched Dick's hand in a death grip, knowing that this wasn't going to end well no matter what was said. The pressure made the ebony's fingers go numb, but he had suffered through much worse. When their principal didn't continue, Barbara started to snap.

"What did they say?" she cried, trembling.

Dick wiggled his left hand out of the death grip, slipping his right hand in so he could put an arm around her, just in case. It was the best decision that he made that day.

"Your parents… they were killed in a car accident."

The whole school yard went silent. Dick's eyes tripled in size and his lips dropped open in horror. He quickly looked to his friend. Barbara's face echoed his and she didn't move.

"N… no…" she whispered in disbelief, tears starting to well in her eyes.

The principal had to turn away from them.

"Your father… he was under the influence when he and your mother got in the car… they were dead upon arrival to the hospital. I'm… I'm so sorry," her old and weak heart broke in her chest.

A whimper of pain escaped Barbara's lips and tears slowly began to fall. Dick, knowing the pain all too well, bit roughly into his lip and hugged her close, screwing his own misty eyes up tight. The redhead didn't move for the longest time besides her rough trembling, tears silently spilling faster and faster from her eyes. Only a few moments longer in Dick's arms did she ultimately shatter like the doll she was.

Quiet sobs began to rack her small frame and she buried her eyes in Dick's tuxedo-jacketed shoulder. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, grabbing a firm hold of the black cloth, her knuckles going white. The sobs got louder and louder until she was ultimately screaming onto his shoulder, not quite sure of what else she could do.

"No!" she sobbed, her heart aching from disbelief. "It's not fair! NO! N-No! Agh!"

Tears burnt harder in Dick's closed eyes, but he said nothing. There were no proper words made for this situation. Anything you could say would be equivalent with striking them with a baseball bat; all you would do is further worsen the pain. He swallowed past the knot in his throat, slowing his breath in an effort to keep from crying himself. Calm and careful fingers began to mess with the hair nearest them, a simple action that usually cheered Barbara up. It didn't work this time.

"W-What am I-I-I going t-to do?" she screamed, her nails unknowingly piercing Dick's back, making him arch in hidden pain. "W-Where am I-I g-going to g-go?"

Her voice had broken long ago, but still, she screamed on and on. It took courage to break in front of people and she was the most fearful of cats out in the alley. No one around had the heart to move or say anything. They weren't sure what to make of the scene before them.

"What d-did I do… to d-deserve this?" Barbara whispered, her voice gentle and careful as it secretly reached Dick's ears. "I-I was a-a good g-g-girl…"

Dick calmly ran a hand down her hair, bringing a shiver with it. Of all people, he understood her pain. He knew what she was going through and he knew everything she was feeling. She definitely didn't deserve this. She was a great girl, one who deserved to live in a castle with grand princesses and pixies that sang of cleaning and friendship and love instead of here.

"No one deserves this," Dick mumbled, a tear falling faintly. "No one should have to suffer through what you're going to experience over the next few years… I had to suffer alone, but you don't have to. I'll be here to help you until you can stand on your own again, and even after that. I'm here for you…"

The sun continued to shine down on them all, the bright rays mocking them all. It illuminated the bloody broken shards that now lay in the vividly colored green grass that were warmed by the perfect temperature, laying amongst the ashes of what had started out as a perfect day.

**I have school tomorrow. Please, someone, shoot me. Not anywhere that can kill me though. Maybe my left foot. That's on my bucket list anyway. Then I'd get all strong because I'd have to use crutches because I'm too stubborn to use a wheelchair. I know I'm a review whore, but reviews are the only things that keep me happy anymore… So… Review? **

**-F.J. **


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